Following on on Betty’s post this morning, keep on calling.
Senator Sanders in his role as the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee has had his staff arguing hard to the parliamentarian over the past few weeks. They are arguing over every point in the Senate bill(s) that are still be scrawled on napkins in the Senate dining room on whether or not provisions are directly budget related and therefore only need a 50 vote threshold or are primarily policy and need a 60 vote threshold. They’ve won some big fights. It looks like they won an even bigger one this morning.
Senate Parliamentarian rules that state innovation waivers in GOP bill violate Byrd Rule, per Bernie Sanders staff pic.twitter.com/Yh5ORWFhZ7
— Patrick Caldwell (@patcaldwell) July 27, 2017
What that means is the waiver provisions need 60 votes. This is important from a policy perspective as the current waiver system in the ACA allows states to experiment if they can insure as many people, at the same or better actuarial value while protecting the most vulnerable and costing the federal government no more money. The provision that is now subject to a 60 vote threshold would allow the state to do whatever it wanted just as long as it cost the federal government no more money.
Politically this is important because the Senate leadership, Secretary of Health and Human Services Price and CMS Administrator Verma have been promising Republican senators that they’ll issue magical waivers that will give enough flexibility to states to keep everyone or at least enough people whole despite pulling out $750 billion dollars in Medicaid funding and several hundred billion net dollars from the individual market. That is a fantasy of the least interesting tripe but it waivers of unimaginable power are being pushed behind the scene. Those waivers can’t be part of the bill.
And if they are part of the bill, that means the legislative filibuster is dead which should help when we have to clean up this mess.
SenyorDave
I see this post is classified under Fuck the Poor and Fuck the Middle Class. Can someone create a new category called “Fuck everyone except the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Rupert Murdoch and Peter Thiel”? Because those four entities and a few others truly are the bosses of the Republican party. And IMO the most important thing for the mid-terms is for the Democrats to figure out how to get people* to understand this fact.
* Does not include the mythical WWC Trump voters. I don’t want a penny of any money I donate to the Democratic party or candidates wasted trying to reach those people. They knew what Trump was an they’re happy with it because he’s showing those “insert slur of your choice”.
Major Major Major Major
Oh, that’s wonderful news! Thanks, Sen. Sanders!
Jeffro
“Magical waivers” like “underpants gnomes on steroids”-level magical.
The magical, blessed free market stands ready to produce whatever results Republicans want it to produce, isn’t that funny?
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major: many people here are aware that I am not Senator Sanders’s biggest fan, but I sure am glad to see him hauling water to put out this dumpster fire in the Senate. So, yes, thanks, Sen. Sanders!
Turgidson
@SenyorDave:
Let’s make sure to add Steve Wynn to the named group. He’s assumed to be the one who is blackmailing Heller into folding faster than Superman on laundry day. If Heller had meant a word of what he said standing next to Sandoval a few weeks ago, this bullshit would probably already be finished. Maybe he thought he meant it at the time. Before Wynn told him he expects his Senators to STAY BOUGHT.
Fuck em all.
LAO
@Major Major Major Major: @Miss Bianca: Agreed. That’s great news.
hedgehog the occasional commenter
@LAO: @Major Major Major Major: @Miss Bianca: Fourthed :)
trollhattan
@Major Major Major Major:
Yeah, this puts a little more space between Bernie and that other Sanders, the Possum Queen ™.
Thanks, Bernie [written utterly unironically]
Turgidson
Major props to the junior senator from Vermont and his staff for taking on the parliamentary side of this fight with such gusto and effectiveness.
Citizen_X
@Miss Bianca: Yes, and he has the power to do this precisely because he has seniority.
So: still want to primary him, anybody?
Villago Delenda Est
The Villagers must be agog at just how brilliant a Parliamentary Machiavelli Yertle is.
Getting his ass whupped by Bernie.
randy khan
Glad to see Sanders and his staff doing the hard work here.
Chyron HR
@Citizen_X:
Depends how frequently he literally dances the tango with evil Republican senators, I guess.
Major Major Major Major
@Citizen_X: Not the best argument, since if he were primaried, the next ranking member would be… Patty Murray, I guess? I see no reason she couldn’t do the same.
eclare
@Turgidson: Agreed, keep it up.
Scott
I have a question I haven’t found the answer to: If some shell of a bill makes it out of the Senate and goes to Conference, does the subsequent bill out of Conference have to meet the same rules of the Senate as a regular bill or reconciliation bill? That is, is there a 60 vote requirement or has to pass the Parliamentarian for a 50 vote standard? What are the rules for Conference bill?
artem1s
Ah, and as the first bill of this Senate finally comes to the floor for debate and amendments, we get to see the GOP Know Nothing Amateur Hour in full swing. About time.
randy khan
@Scott: It depends on whether the resulting bill meets the Byrd Rule or not. (Assuming no nuking of the filibuster, etc.)
kindness
Who doesn’t see this coming: Republicans will say the filibuster is still in place! It was only ‘lifted’ for this one bill.
Kinda like how the Supreme Court said Bush winning over Gore in Florida only was this one time only. But you know Mitch is going to go there.
David Anderson
@Scott: A conference bill will need to meet all reconciliation guidelines to only need a majority coalition. So a conference bill that includes things that have already been Byrd dropped would be judged to be out of order as long as the offending provisions are still in the bill or the Senate overrules the Parliamentarian and the filibuster is caput.
Another Scott
@Scott: Vox just says “gets majority in both chambers”, but it may be glossing over important details. I dunno.
Cheers,
Scott.
The Moar You Know
@Citizen_X: Yep. Spending money to that end and will spend more to do so. Because here’s the flip side of your cute comment: if not for him, we wouldn’t be fighting this battle at all. Or many others. I want him gone.
Major Major Major Major
@David Anderson: @Another Scott: David is correct.
See also: what happened with the ACA.
Another Scott
@David Anderson: Thanks.
Surely McConnell knows this, too. Doing things this way seems to me [to indicate] either he’s incompetent, or this is all kabuki and he knows nothing will pass, or he plans on blowing up the Parliamentarian and the filibuster/cloture system.
“Which is it, Addison?”
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Tom
@Major Major Major Major: If Bernie gets primaried we’ll have the Vermont version of Paul Le Page in the Senate.
patrick II
@Turgidson:
Absolutely add Robert Mercer to your list. He is a long time Bannon supporter, part Breitbart owner and Donald contributer.
rikyrah
Democrats will investigate the Interior Secretary’s threat against Murkowski.https://t.co/OUynQJFkln
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 27, 2017
rikyrah
Huh. Just yesterday @SenDeanHeller offered an amendment not to slash Medicaid. https://t.co/VlJkN1HMzR
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 27, 2017
Major Major Major Major
@Tom: I didn’t say it was a good idea, just that Citizen_X’s argument was bad.
Scott
@randy khan: @David Anderson: @Another Scott:
Thanks, everyone.
TenguPhule
@Another Scott:
Option 3. Its always option 3 with these guys.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Credit where credit is due to Sanders, after creating the circumstances where doing it has become necessary.
The Moar You Know
@Tom: Idle threat indeed. If you can find anyone in America who’s done more damage to the Democratic Party than ol’ Bernie, make him a GOP president. That person will have earned it.
Oh, guess that already happened, so you’re out of threats.
Tim C.
Then huge credit to Sanders and the Bern feelers for pushing the parlimentarian. The alliance is stronger when everyone has something to offer.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
Well, it seems Sanders is actually doing something good. Bully for him.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@SenyorDave:
Might I suggest Oligarchy Uber Alles? Or perhaps 1 percent in place of oligarchy?
Turgidson
@kindness:
This is what I’m expecting now, too. McConnell has blown up nearly every single fucking norm and unwritten rule of Senate conduct since Obama took office, and has taken the shamelessness up to eleventy-billion in the TrumpCare “process.” If a bunch of parliamentarian rulings are all that stands between him and “victory,” do we really think Mitch fucking McConnell will suddenly stop and say “boy, I’d sure hate to upset this long-standing Senate tradition. Back to the drawing board” ??? After the thousands of filibusters, the refusal to let the Obama Administration confirm scores of noncontroversial judges and political appointees, after Merrick f’ing Garland?
It may be that McConnell doesn’t actually want anything to pass because he is afraid of the political fallout from blowing up the health care industry out of spite for a President who is no longer in office. In which case he’ll use the Byrd Droppings as cover. But if he is devoted to “winning” this, which I think he is, given how many times he could have credibly said “well we tried, but the votes aren’t there” and walked away, this amoral asshole isn’t going to let these things stop him. McConnell will do what he always does to “justify” his contempt for the rules and norms he claims to love – lie about what he just did. They’ll do a Senate version of Bush v. Gore and say “well, we didn’t permanently change any rules, and what we just did isn’t to be used in future legislative battles, anyway.” Which will itself be a lie since, if it works, McConnell will do it again the next time he needs to.
We’ll see. But as grateful as I am that Bernie’s team is covering these bills in Byrd shit, I am quite dubious that it will ultimately stop McConnell from passing something if he has 50 votes for something and the rulings are the only obstacle left in his way.
Yellowdog
@SenyorDave: You forgot the Mercers.
different-church-lady
Sanders takes a lot of crap around here. Some of it is deserved, a lot of it not. It’s important to remember that he might make some significant missteps, but he’s not the enemy.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@randy khan:
Man, I never learned this much about government even in AP Gov. All these rules and procedures. It’s actually really complicated and I can totally understand the average person being completely ignorant of it
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Tom:
And that would make a difference how, since we’re def in the minority?
different-church-lady
@Tom: What makes you think Vermont will go for the primary opponent? They adore Bernie.
TenguPhule
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Less cash and resources to spend against actual Republicans?
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Turgidson:
Oh yeah. In the House, there was some proposal to do away with the CBO and basically replace it with several partisan think tanks, most of which would be right-wing
TenguPhule
@different-church-lady:
Seconded.
He’s a vote we need. As long as the Senate is still actually counting them.
TenguPhule
@The Moar You Know:
Mr. Comey on line one. Anthony Wiener on line two.
Citizen_X
@TenguPhule: Jill Stein on line three.
TenguPhule
@Turgidson: You said it better then I could.
Its Calvinball. Its all Calvinball.
rikyrah
Senate Republicans plan to write health care bill over lunch
07/27/17 12:43 PM
By Steve Benen
As things stand, Senate Republicans are eager to pass a health care plan that doesn’t exist, but Reuters reports that GOP lawmakers intend to finalize a proposal this afternoon.
There’s no word as to whether senators will literally use the backs of envelopes and handy cocktail napkins while writing their legislation.
It’s tempting at this point to start delving into the details of what we think we know about the “skinny repeal” bill, but I’m afraid it’s folly. Every few minutes, new scuttlebutt points in new directions. We should have a better sense of the legislative specifics fairly soon.
But it’s worth pausing to appreciate how truly ridiculous the circumstances are. Congressional Republicans have been working on their alternative to the Affordable Care Act for seven years. And yet, in true post-policy fashion, GOP senators intend to scribble some ideas down over lunch on a Thursday afternoon, and then pass it on a Thursday night or Friday.
This is not how policymaking is supposed to work in the United States. Contemporary Republicans simply don’t care.
satby
@Citizen_X: yes. Next question?
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
Interior secretary called Murkowski to say Trump “wasn’t pleased” with her health care vote
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-interior-secretary-called-alaskas-senators-to-threaten-them-over-health-care-vote/
Trump: “That bitch Murkowski, who’s only a 3, at most, is gonna be sleeping with the fishes, just like in the movies. I want to be just like my buddy Vlad.”
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: What did I tell you about being more subtle?
smintheus
5 years ago 27 Republican senators argued in an amicus brief to SCOTUS that the individual mandate was the heart of the ACA and made it possible for the other provisions to work:
The senator who signed this brief included McConnell, Cornyn, Collins, Murkowsky, Heller, Rubio, Grassley, McCain, Johnson, Lee, Paul, and Toomey. They can’t pretend now that they don’t know they’re voting to eliminate the existing solutions to the twin problems of health care coverage and costs. This point should be part of any calls made to senators about the bill.
TenguPhule
@smintheus:
Watch them do so anyway. Because there are no rules with these people. Just suggestions.
ruemara
@Citizen_X: He’s doing something right for once. Don’t get it twisted. I’d primary him in a heartbeat.
burnspbesq
@Citizen_X:
Wrong question. He’s not a Democrat, so he won’t be on the ballot in the Democratic primary.
I will settle for him losing to an actual Democrat in the general.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@TenguPhule: I’m making fun of Trump and his pretensions towards strongman authoritarianism. I said things like that long before you were around here.
Major Major Major Major
Come on, did this really have to turn into a thread about Bernie fuckin’ Sanders?
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
But he did something good for once. That’s worth a whole thread
Omnes Omnibus
@smintheus: Thanks for this. I called Johnson again and left a message quoting that brief. I said that, if he votes to kill the mandate, he is voting for increased premiums and more uninsured people. He said it himself. Not sure what good it will do, but I enjoyed making the call.
mai naem mobile
@SenyorDave: you forgot the Mercers. They’re the Dolt 45 benefactors.
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I agree, but apparently that still won’t prevent it from becoming another goddamned pie fight.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: You didn’t need the B* cursing because the scoring was classic trump.The sleeping with the fishes is not only out of date but wrong genre. Using Tea party would have been a better fit. And the buddy bit was definitely not Trump enough, something more degrading to Trump should have been used.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@burnspbesq: because that’s what Dems should be spending resources on – taking back Bernie’s seat? Not sure that idea is even worth the pixels we’re using to discuss it…
Ohio Mom
Okay I just got home after a long morning of back-to-back appointments, each one a longer drive than the one before. Also found out we have to fire and immediately replace two of Ohio Dad’s doctors, they totally screwed up — don’t worry, it is all fixable but I am furious at their neglect.
Anyway, I’m exhausted and out of the loop but I can still call Portman’s office.
What is the latest? Did they vote on skinny repeal yet? Did they threaten to get rid of the pre-existing conditions protections?
Tell me what I need to tell Portman’s interns, thanks!
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: It seems to be under control for the moment. None of the usual suspects is flinging banana custard.
kindness
I don’t hate Bernie. Not real fond of they guy after he used Republican talking points during the primaries last year but I don’t hate him. I don’t hate BernieBros either. I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire and I had just downed a 6 pack of beer either, but I don’t hate them.
There’s a difference.
smintheus
@Omnes Omnibus: You’re welcome. I’m about to call Toomey again and point this out. Gonna call his local office too, where there are genuine people who might be embarrassed to learn the depth of his hypocrisy.
Major Major Major Major
@Ohio Mom: Bad doctors are the worst. Sorry to hear that.
TenguPhule
@Ohio Mom:
1. Still making sausages.
2. No.
3. Amendment added to do so. Whether it will remain in what they actually vote on is undetermined.
mai naem mobile
I wish Harry Reid would work on making Sandoval switch parties. I don’t see the enough GOP supporting a Hispanic in the presidential primary for him to win.
SenyorDave
@Ohio Mom: Anyway, I’m exhausted and out of the loop but I can still call Portman’s office.
When you call Portman’s office, maybe you should mention that someone in his family may be directly be affected by the bill. IIRC, that was the impetus for him coming around on gay marriage (his son came out). He is somehow regarded as a moderate because of his change of stance on that issue, but he sure as hell had no problem with being a bigot until it affected his GD family.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@TenguPhule:
I’m having trouble parsing this.
Anyway thanks for the critique, Professor TenguPhule ?
TenguPhule
I swear Ed Rogers at WAPO must be a Russian asset.
Not linking to him but you can’t get to that level of complete denial of the facts by accident.
NeenerNeener
@Miss Bianca: Yeah, I guess Ole Bern is good for something besides splitting the Democratic Party at Putin’s instigation. I might someday almost forgive him for being the turd in the punch bowl in 2016 if he keeps this up.
Mnemosyne
@Citizen_X:
Uh, Bernie is an independent. There’s no primary to run against him.
So you’re saying that the Democrats shouldn’t run a viable candidate from their own party against an independent candidate?
ETA: Just to be clear, I’m happy that Sanders and his staff are working hard to save PPACA, but the “don’t primary the independent candidate” meme is the dumbest one ever.
Turgidson
@kindness:
I’m happy to see Bernie doing good work in defending the ACA. It doesn’t unring the bell of his kamikaze campaign towards the end of the primary, but nothing can do that now. But [unlike a small but vocal unhinged subset of his hangers-on] he is showing that he cares more about real world consequences of policy than chasing his preferred unicorn to the exclusion of all else. And he’s doing everything he can to prevent a public health catastrophe. I’m glad he’s on our team for this fight, at least.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I meant you did a good job there.
i just want you to improve your game. When you get your digs into these assholes, make us laugh and admire your turn of the phrase at the same time.
trollhattan
O/T and in case Silverman’s in the hood.
Those seem like such innocent times, when rural wingnuts were just entertaining themselves threatening federal employees….
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@TenguPhule:
In that case thanks
Miss Bianca
@NeenerNeener: Well, let’s not get carried away…; )
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
Aren’t there Fifty two better places to spend those resources on?
Turgidson
Of course, ol RonJohn voted to proceed after all sorts of furrowed-brow “concern”, so f him.
Miss Bianca
@Ohio Mom: Oh, you didn’t hear? They’re gonna do lunch and somewhere in between the roast beef sandwiches and the pie and ice cream come up with a bill that’s going to rearrange and probably up-end 1/6 of the national economy!
@trollhattan: IKR?
Mnemosyne
@trollhattan:
I kind of wonder if juries are going to take a less indulgent view of these kinds of right-wing nutters now that Trump has won and shown how dangerous they actually are.
Mnemosyne
@TenguPhule:
Again, you miss the point: having someone run as a Democrat against Bernie is not a primary It’s an election.
Thoughtful David
@Miss Bianca: Oddly enough, this could go down as the greatest legislative achievement of his career, far outweighing any thing he ever did before Trump. He’s actually doing something good and positive.
trollhattan
@Mnemosyne:
One hopes. I’m envisioning the defense summation beginning, “I want you to recall a time when the tyrant Obama ruled the land and honest, hardworkin’ folks had lost all hope and were driven to desperate measures, as the situation warranted.”
Chyron HR
@TenguPhule:
Republicans currently hold 240 house seats.
“Our Revolution” is primarying Nancy Pelosi.
Is that a good use of their resources? Just asking.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne:
From your fingers to FSM’s orecchiette, m’dear…
kindness
@Turgidson: Agreed. I still have close friends that I hardly talk to now because they blamed me for voting for Hillary in the primary & general and her losing to Trump. These same people used every lie that came down the pike saying how awful Hillary was and how they were now voting for Stein & then they did. And when Trump won they had the gall to come into my house and blame me. It was a cold day in hell, let me tell ya. Short visit too.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
We were fine saying nice things about Sen. Sanders until some fuckwit had to jump in going, Hur-hur now who wants to primary my personal Jesus?
Bobby Thomson
@Citizen_X: are you saying Murray, Wyden, or Stabenow wouldn’t do the same?
ruemara
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Literally no one is saying that. No one. So calm your tits.
@kindness: Any close “friend” who holds that view has the common sense (at last) to shut their cakeholes around me, because I am not taking prisoners and I don’t need “friends” like that. Plus, I have the facts, they have memes from TYT.
Fair Economist
@Another Scott: I don’t think McConnell is incompetent, just desperate. He’s trying to pass the worst domestic policy bill since slavery was abolished and that’s hard even with Republicans in charge. He’s basically throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks.
Patricia Kayden
@Major Major Major Major: Yes. Thank you Sanders. This is the way to handle scheming Republicans.
trollhattan
@Chyron HR:
Is that a frealz thing that’s happening or just aspirational starry-eyed wanking? One presumes that a Democrat primarying Nancy will make it through to the November ballot, given no funded Republican will bother and the “top-two” system doesn’t hold a slot for them, but Nancy will flick whomever aside like a gnat. Of the safiest safe seats in the land, Nancy’s looks a lot more solid than the Iron Throne.
Major Major Major Major
@trollhattan: It is a thing that is happening.
Who knows, maybe that guy’s even our very own goblue72!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
If we’re relying on Bernie Sanders and his manipulation of arcane procedural rules to save the day, we are well and truly fucked.
ruemara
@trollhattan: There have been calls on the Twitter machine, but I don’t see a clear candidate for that seat. However, reading through the board, I’m pleased to note that all of them are folks I wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire.
@Major Major Major Major: Edited to add, HA!
trollhattan
@Major Major Major Major:
Aww, he’s adorable. Maybe he can snag some sweet Thiel money for his new hobby; plus, I happen to know where there are windmills in Nancy’s district!.
gene108
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
You do understand that the bottom rung of the 1% are basically just upper-upper-middle class? You make a good living, but you’re still dependent on a paycheck.
You maybe making $500k a year, but to the billionaire that’s paying you, you are still the hired help.
trollhattan
@ruemara:
Prying her away from the minority leadership is certainly possible (if foolish IMHO) but snagging her seat simply isn’t happening. But as Karl Rove taught us, attack people’s strengths. Pelosi’s strengths are her deep understanding of politics and her adroit skills as a parliamentarian. So she clearly needs to go.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
No, I got it the first time. I’m just pointing out there are 52 other Senate seats we could probably spend the money and resources on to try and take.
I am not trying to pick any fights here.
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major: agh, don’t invoke goblow’s nym!! I haven’t had to resort to the pie filter yet – thanks for that, btw, it sure seems like troll traffic is down signficantly since its introduction – but I sure would be tempted to to if IT started showing up again.
Major Major Major Major
@trollhattan: I love those windmills. I mean, what the hell, why not? Windmills!
@gene108: Yeah, “we are the 99%!” is a good rallying cry but 99% of the problem with the 1% is found in the top 1% of them.
TenguPhule
@Chyron HR: Sanders is in the Senate, not the House.
And the attack on Nancy is fucking stupid. That is all.
ruemara
@trollhattan: Insufficient fealty to Bernie encapsulates all of that.
randy khan
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
I’ve worked in Washington for decades, and have had to learn some things lately.
TenguPhule
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Any port in a storm.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Now you’re making me wonder if the Berner who’s trying to sue over the election for the head of the California Democratic Party has gotten anywhere, but I’m heading out to lunch and don’t want to ruin my digestion by Googling it.
randy khan
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Look, any port in a storm, and every little bit helps. By making it harder for the Republicans to pass something he’s increasing the odds that they won’t pass something.
TenguPhule
CBO Score is up: ‘Skinny repeal’ of Obamacare would leave 16 million more people uninsured in a decade
This is not health insurance reform.
This is madness.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: They finished the recount and the actual Democrat won by like fifty.
randy khan
@TenguPhule:
Great minds, or something.
Mnemosyne
@TenguPhule:
Never say never. Besides, as has been noted before, Bernie is no spring chicken. There should at least be a decent Democratic candidate standing by in case of emergency.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
Agreed. But no sense in running against a vote we can usually count on for our side until and unless we actually have to. Much rather unseat a Republican.
Brachiator
OT, while we are watching the pot of Trumpcare Craziness boil:
June Foray, the voice of Rockey the Flying Squirrel has died, age 99. She was also the voice of Natasha of Boris and Natasha fame, and also the voice of Granny in numerous Warner Brothers cartoons.
TenguPhule
@randy khan: Desperate times and Foxholes. :-}
rikyrah
@TenguPhule:
thank you CBO
TenguPhule
@Brachiator: Damn, she really was good at that.
rikyrah
@TenguPhule:
I read this right…
15 MILLION IN 2018?!?!?!?
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I thought she was still suing, though? Claiming voter intimidation or somesuch?
It was particularly annoying because it sounded like she was a rising star, but then she decided to hitch her wagon to the Bros and drag herself down to their scorched earth level.
rikyrah
Sounds like McConnell is playing hide the ball with his members so let’s review this one more time. 1/ https://t.co/CN6RmjrPpy
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 27, 2017
the Conster, la Citoyenne
TenguPhule
@rikyrah:
Between the mandates and the plan premiums going fucking nuts, I’m surprised they predicted it would be that low.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: All I know is this is a result they announced like a couple days ago. If she’s done something since then, I don’t know/care.
TenguPhule
Because this may have been lost among everything else
/Colbert Heeheehee!
TenguPhule
A nice little breakdown of the GOP voter fraud scam.
And the commission is going to be working with LESS information then Crosscheck had available to it.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@trollhattan: I checked the local population of Didelphis virginiana, and was informed they do not recognize Sarah Huckabee Sanders as either their queen regnant, queen consort, or queen regent. In fact, they have trouble remaining conscious near her, and would prefer that she (and, indeed, her entire extended family) stay the hell away.
Another Scott
BooMan at WaMo: What if Sens. Murkowski and Collins defected?:
“See, Bannon, the thing about Chaos is that it’s unpredictable…”
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@Brachiator:
Oh, God, I loved her so much.
Major Major Major Major
@Another Scott: Collins? Doing something that actually matters against the Republican party? *snort*
dmsilev
So, weren’t the Senate GOP supposed to be writing the bill to be voted on tonight over lunch today? It’s mid-afternoon on the East coast; just how long of a lunch (measured in either hours or martinis) are they taking?
MomSense
Text
to 504-09 and they will send out free faxes to your Rep and Senators.
It is so easy and quick. Just answer the questions so they determine your congress critters and then you will text what you want to say, preview it and hit send. You will get confirmation by text when your faxes go through.It’s a great option for hard to reach Senators and for people who struggle with making calls.
Give it a try and let us know how it worked.
TenguPhule
@Another Scott: If they haven’t defected before now, they have no intentions of ever doing so.
germy
@TenguPhule: I have a feeling the next time my wife and I go to vote, we will be hassled.
TenguPhule
@dmsilev:
Vote was kicked back to 4:00 pm over there.
Yutsano
@Another Scott: Will not happen. Collins has stubbornly refused to leave her party (voting with it most of the time except on this) and Murkowski still has her famous name to live up to as a Republican. Plus I don’t think Schumer has the charm chops to pull it off.
JanieM
@Another Scott: If Susan Collins becomes a Democrat I will eat my computer for breakfast. Independent maybe, but probably only if she decides to run for governor. Democrat, never. I can’t imagine anyone who knows much about the history and dynamics of the two parties *within* Maine would ever suggest that.
Miss Bianca
@MomSense: it worked for me! thanks!
Ohio Mom
Got through to Portman’s office on the first try. Maybe I should switch from mornings to afternoons for my daily scolding, the lines are freer.
Told the intern — we recognize eschother’s voices by now — that after his boss and the rest of the Republicans succeed in passing a bill that will leave millions uninsured and raise the rates on everyone who remains lucky enough to have insurance — that I will still be calling. I will update regularly on the havoc they have wrought.
Which I will, I get carrying a grudge from both sides.
Now back to scouring around to find Ohio Dad a new cardiologist.
Miss Bianca
@dmsilev: oh, surely it shouldn’t take longer than a 3-martini lunch. I mean, after all, they’ve been preparing this legislation for *seven years* now, right?
rikyrah
Gee, why’s Ryan asking members to stay in DC? It’s almost as if there won’t be a conference & the House will immediately pass skinny repeal. https://t.co/voYGO9Lced
— Adam Jentleson (@AJentleson) July 27, 2017
Major Major Major Major
@Yutsano:
Wasn’t she elected most recently in Alaska after losing the Republican primary, with a write-in campaign that succeeded because of her name? She doesn’t need the party.
@rikyrah: Didn’t Grassley or somebody say that the entire point of skinny repeal was to pass ‘something’ and force a conference?
Fuckin’ clown car over here.
Ohio Mom
@germy: I am generally ambivalent about early voting because I worry that votes will be cast and then important information that would have swayed low-info voters will come out, too late (see Comey’s big, Oops, Nothing there after all).
But now I’m guessing we may all have to vote early, in case there is a snag that needs unsnarling.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
hmm
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/senators-bill-block-firing-mueller
Trump has;
Dissed Sessions who was a Senator, there for a SERIOUS Person(tm)
Stonwalling on the Russian sanctions bill, after Congress added an Iranian bashing sweetner for Trump
Out right attacking the Alaskan senators.
Makes me wonder if all these crazy Health Care bills are just a smoke screen to hide this Muller protection thing from Trump?
eclare
@Ohio Mom: That is my plan, to always vote early just in case.
goblue72
@burnspbesq: Thats because you’re an OC Democrat, which is basically a Republican with gay friends.
Major Major Major Major
Hey look, Pelosi’s primary challenger showed up! Talking about pie though, not the primary, which seems like a wasted opportunity!
Mnemosyne
@goblue72:
Hillary won OC this year, dumbass. First Democrat to do it in 50 years. Aren’t you supposed to be keeping track of this shit for your job?
Fester Addams
@TenguPhule:
I see the article fails to note that the false positives would be most prevalent among certain groups of people, like, for example, people who’s ancestors had their names assigned to them by plantation owners. A fact not lost, I’m sure, on the people trying to suppress voting among that group.
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
If Trump’s minions keep calling Murkowski and threatening her, I could see her switching because they pissed her off. She may already be there as an independent, anyway.
Collins is a lost cause.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: I hear that insane, violent sexism has a way of radicalizing a lady.
trollhattan
@a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio): Heh! Queens are born to their positions, so very sorry possums but she’s all yours. Have they heard about heir-to-the-throne, her sick brother? They’d do well to keep Queen Sarah safe and him off the Possum Throne.
MomSense
@Ohio Mom:
Good luck!! Hope he is ok.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: Best case scenario is both go independent but then caucus with the Democrats. It doesn’t change the nature of the Senate entirely but it does make things a lot harder for Yetle and company.
@Mnemosyne: It gets better: a Cabinet member governed by a committee THAT SHE’S A PROMINENT MEMBER OF. There’s already been retaliation in that she’s holding up hearing for staffers.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Especially when it comes from an actual Cabinet member.
Seriously, the fucking Secretary of the Interior called her to say, Nice state ya got there, be a shame if anything happened to it.
PST
@Citizen_X:
I don’t want to criticize Sanders when he is doing something good. Credit where credit is due. But the only thing his seniority does is put him ahead of other in the Democratic caucus, and I think many could do as well or better. The next in line on the Budget Committee is Patty Murray, one of my favorite senators, and someone I trust more not to have squirrelly instincts or a personal agenda.
SFAW
@Brachiator:
Just saw that at WaPo. This day got a bit darker. Damn.
MrSnrub
I’ve been head down at work and I’m totally lost.
The Senate is going to vote on something that they don’t want passed because they’re worried about what the House will do with it?
What’s in the bill and what’s the intent of voting for it then?
JMG
@Mnemosyne: Murkowski is better able to hit back at the Trump administration as a Republican. Fer instance, she is chairperson of the subcommittee in charge of the Interior Dept’s budget and appropriations. Got that, Secretary Zinke?
trollhattan
@Yutsano:
Will happily admit Schumer has been a lot better in his leader role than I expected but no, he’s not Superman. What those two would require would be peyote, a shaman and 48 hours in a sweatlodge.
Frankensteinbeck
It’s past 4pm on the East Coast. Is there a bill yet?
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
Interesting article from Vox about Murkowski and the coalition that elected her. I can see why Schumer thinks she’s a good prospect. Even having her as an independent caucuser would be a major get.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@goblue72: You need to get out more.
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
!!! Think of the neighbors.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Sacto morons thinking they know all about So Cal when we outnumber them.
ETA: “Sacto” being shorthand for “politicians and political consultants in Sacramento,” of course.
SFAW
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Fixed
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: I thought he was a San Francisco moron?
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: I actually came across that myself. She really could be a true independent and make quite a career (including taking her father’s place as gov) as an independent. I think up until this year there was an advantage to being on Team Elephant that is radically disappearing.
SFAW
@Mnemosyne:
You only outnumber them because of residency fraud. Fake News! Sad!
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
His story changes frequently, but IIRC he lives in SF and works in Sacto.
FlipYrWhig
@?BillinGlendaleCA: No, please, let him stay shut in for as long as possible. It’s called “quarantine.”
SFAW
@Major Major Major Major:
His moronitude is legion, it can’t be confined to just one area.
Mnemosyne
@SFAW:
All right, you caught me. We’re all illegal aliens here. I’m actually from Ruritania.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: I thought you were from Chicago.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: wow, and you barely even have an accent!
Percysowner
@Ohio Mom: I tried all 5 of Portman’s offices and got voicemail, busy signals and no answer. So I left a voicemail and promised to call again tomorrow. He’s already said he’s voting for the skinny repeal, saying it will all be fixed in Conference, so I asked that he reconsider. Then I started to get hot under the collar. No swearing, but I did tell him that he was STUPID to vote for a bill that he doesn’t really want passed. Calling him an idiot felt good. I may try that again some time.
SFAW
@Mnemosyne:
You too?
Well, actually, I’m from Freedonia. But I have friends in Strelsau.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
@Major Major Major Major:
You see? I fooled you all!
/evil laugh
FlipYrWhig
@Percysowner: The whole thing is SO. STUPID. If the objective is an actual health care reform bill, there is no rush at all. Just have McConnell pull the plug and go back to the drawing board. There’s no need to vote for things you don’t want so that you can buy time to consider voting for something else later. Just throw up your hands and say you want a real plan drawn up with real effort. Fuck these people hard and at a particularly painful angle.
SFAW
@Mnemosyne:
Did you ever consider that they were just stringing you along, trying to make you feel more welcome, by not pointing out your akzent?
ETA: Plus, G dropped a dime on you re: your actual immigration status.
Another Scott
@Frankensteinbeck: TheHill is saying they’re hoping for a “final vote Friday morning”.
We’ve got to keep fighting them, every single day…
Cheers,
Scott.
Mel
@Ohio Mom:
You might want to try Dr. Lynne Wagoner.
? Martin
Now, now, CA Dems. No need for infighting. When this shitshow ends, we’re going to have a country to rebuild, and someone is going to have to provide those plans. That is our job right now.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: I was taking pics up at Griffith Observatory and someone asked this young woman next to me where she was from, she said she was visiting from Seoul. Her English sounded like she was from LA, so I thought she was born in Seoul and moved here as a young child. I told the wife and she said, no, they learn English in Korea and learn a California accent.
les
@Yutsano:
Voting with her party every time it matters; only against when given permission because it doesn’t matter to preserve her “moderate” disguise.
Yutsano
@Another Scott: JFC Portman is a moron…
Frankensteinbeck
@Another Scott:
Then he doesn’t have the votes, and is hoping he can find them overnight.
trollhattan
@SFAW:
Heh, “the solution to pollution is dilution.”
We clearly need to get the moronitude concentration down below 13 ppb, the action level.
Mai.naem.mobile
I am not saying that Schumer can pull it off but Alasks has an Independent governor and Maine had Angus King as governor as independent. Collins and Murkowski don’t have to become Democrats. They just need to become independents and caucus with the Dems.I don’t claim to know Alasks or Maine politics but I wouldn’t be surprised if being an indy in the current environment is a good idea.
trollhattan
@Yutsano:
All Portmans need to be Natalie.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
Only because her faithful Republican voters supported her.
She was one of them, just not as batshit insane as her challenger.
TenguPhule
@FlipYrWhig:
This was never about health care reform.
This is about McConnell 1) Sticking a last middle finger to President Obama and 2)Tax cuts
That’s it.
TenguPhule
@Mai.naem.mobile:
Alaska is too red to get away with it. Maine would work, provided it was any other person except Chameleon Collins.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@trollhattan: In that case, expect news of a violent rebellion, with royal executions to follow, in the French or Russian manner, with possum affairs deteriorating into an anarchic condition. Don’t worry, possums can handle anarchy better than we can.
TenguPhule
@Frankensteinbeck: Actually that has to do with a 28 hour rule.
MisterForkbeard
@Chyron HR: I recently unsubscribed from Our Revolution and informed them they wouldn’t get any more of my donation dollars because of the following things:
* Continued reliance on and promotion of Nina Turner, who attacks our own allies didn’t follow Bernie’s own lead after the primaries were over.
* Insipid and stupefying attacks on Nancy Pelosi and other accomplished Democrats. Running a primary is one thing – negative campaigning reinforcing crazy republican propaganda is another.
I really doubt it made a difference. On the other hand, I don’t see almost any of my Bernie-voter friends on facebook talking about OurRevolution anymore, and it used to come up fairly frequently. I think most people are getting disgusted with them.
ruemara
@Mnemosyne: Exsqueeze me? Some of us Sacto morons at least knew that. We take pride in a selective moronity.
Mnemosyne
@TenguPhule:
Read the article I linked to above. She won a write-in campaign with a coalition of Native Americans, desperate Democrats, and not-batshit Republicans.
Frankensteinbeck
@TenguPhule:
They were planning a 4pm vote. It was moved to tomorrow morning. I don’t think it’s the 28 hour rule!
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne: That’s what I said, she wasn’t as batshit insane as her opponent. But that doesn’t mean she’s independent, just that the Democrats in the state made a strategic choice to support her because she was better then the alternative.
Yutsano
@Frankensteinbeck: He turned Portman on a ridiculously stupid premise that there would be a House conference. McCarthy just told the House to hold all travel plans until after the Senate votes. There isn’t going to be a conference and Portman just got played for his yes.
The problem is because of this that trick shouldn’t work twice. It probably will but it shouldn’t.
rikyrah
honest question – couldn’t a coalition of 8-10 GOP Senators just agree to stop debating this and move to regular order? Less consequences?
— Mike Urann (@FUPodcast) July 27, 2017
Absolutely anytime they want, which is what @SenJohnMcCain said he wanted in his speech on Tuesday. https://t.co/wNNqEESEPq
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) July 27, 2017
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@rikyrah:
Too afraid of losing their cushy jobs. Assholes
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: that doesn’t make sense, why wouldn’t said faithful republicans have shown up during the primary?
Miss Bianca
@PST: Besides the fact, as others have pointed out, that you can’t primary Sanders because he is running as an independent. Methinks “Citizen X” needs some brushing up on his/her citizening skills, like “elections – how do these things work, anyway?”
Yarrow
What the hell is this shit?
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: They did but were not a majority within the primary.
She needed them plus the Democrats who made a strategic choice to support her. I apologize for my poorly worded first post.
But if she loses those Republicans, she doesn’t have enough votes for reelection. Trying to run as an actual independent instead of a betrayed Republican would mean she loses those votes to Tribal identity.
Another Scott
https://twitter.com/nielslesniewski/status/890675636125155328
Hmmm…
Cheers,
Scott.
Ohio Mom
@MomSense: He is basically fine but this doc dropped a ball that he shouldn’t have. There were some test results that needed follow up and Ohio Dad did not get the message for five months. I don’t want another ball dropped.
I rolled my eyes when my old sister told me about her new binder for tracking all things medical. I thought she clearly didn’t have enough to do, everything is online these days.
But now I see you have to keep on the doctors, constantly. Even though you have no idea what you are doing. And if having printouts hole-punched and organized and sticky-noted in a binder helps you see what needs following up, I guess it is off to Staples.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule: ah. Perhaps!
@Another Scott: in, like, 8 minutes?
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
?
TenguPhule
@Another Scott:
This can’t possibly be good news from John McCain.
TenguPhule
Oh FFS, the Republicans have another backup plan to the backup plan to their backup plan.
Mandarama
@MomSense: Thanks for this information! I called Alexander’s and Corker’s offices, both in DC and Nashville, and all were busy signals. (Well, I did get to leave a VM on Alexander’s local line.) So this faxbot helped me get something across today, anyway. I appreciate it.
dmsilev
@Another Scott: I predict an announcement that, as the Senate GOP has gone full Lord of the Flies, Senator McCain has wrested control of the conch shell from Senator McConnell.
Ohio Mom
@Percysowner: You, me and Yarrow — we are the not very diplomatic trio. But I believe sounding upset can only add credibility. Portman *is* stupid, and irresponsible, as are the rest of them.
Ohio Mom
@Mel: will google her now
MisterForkbeard
@Another Scott: Either announcing they’re shutting the whole fucker down, or that they have demands they’ll immediately back down from.
It’s probably not announcing a success or agreement, as the most important people (McConnell, Murkowski, Collins) aren’t involved.
dmsilev
@TenguPhule:
Do they have a backup for that as well?
At this point, we’re into Schrodinger’s Cat territory, and as a certified quantum mechanic I’m here to tell you that opening the box and checking on the cat is almost never a good idea.
Yarrow
@Ohio Mom:
Yes. You have to follow up on EVERYTHING. They drop balls all over the place. Or their staff does. Basically you’re being your own doctor, your own nurse, and your own case manager. And set reminders on your phone for when lab results should be back so you call them when they don’t call you. It’s another full time fucking job.
And heaven forbid you get a difficult disease or an orphan disease or maybe you don’t respond to the first one or two or four treatments and the premier doctor in the country shrugs his shoulders and says, “I don’t know what to tell you.” Because at that point you really are your own doctor and nurse and case manager. Off the grid and down the rabbit hole.
MisterForkbeard
@Ohio Mom: I’m pretty sure Portman does actually want the bill passed. He’s just saying otherwise for PR reasons.
It IS, however, stupid of him to expect his lie to actually be accepted. So he’s stupid and a liar, I suppose.
Major Major Major Major
@MisterForkbeard: my thoughts as well.
Let’s find out!
eclare
@Mandarama: Got through to live people in their Memphis offices this morning.
TenguPhule
@MisterForkbeard:
I’m getting the gang of 14 vibe from these 5 clowns.
Gonna call it as a “we have an acceptable compromise worked out” which is actually a shit sandwich.
TenguPhule
@dmsilev:
I think that in all possible timelines, this cat is most assuredly dead already.
Yarrow
@Ohio Mom: @Percysowner:
I have the proud distinction of making a staffer cry. I’ve also cried while talking to them. Today I asked Evil Republican Senator’s staffer if he was okay working for someone who was going to kill me and kill other people. He told me, “There’s no need to get personal.”
I keep thinking they can’t shock me anymore and then something like that happens.
Another Scott
@Major Major Major Major: WaPo has the live video at the top of the page – I can’t watch it now, and can’t see any meaningful text.
Cheers,
Scott.
dmsilev
@TenguPhule: We’ll find out soon, I guess, but if they had a deal the press conference probably would include the main holdouts, who would be there to crow about their statesmanlike behavior in finding a solution to the incredible problem of how best to screw over a few tens of millions of people.
MisterForkbeard
@TenguPhule: Could be the case. “We have an acceptable, moderate compromise worked out. We’re going to just repeal all the taxes and stop paying for Obamacare to function, but if it fails it’s totally the Democrat’s fault not ours.”
zzyzx
@Another Scott: 538 has Graham saying that this will be a disaster (skinny bill). It might be dead!
Ohio Mom
@MisterForkbeard: Yes, Portman wants to gut healthcare, it’s what his patrons want.
He is just extra vain about keeping his “I’m a moderate” ruse going.
TenguPhule
Headlines we didn’t need to see: Pacific fleet commander stands ready to obey a Trump nuclear strike order
Since I had my fright, I had to spread the misery.
Could have lived perfectly fine without both that question and that answer.
zzyzx
NATE SILVER 5:23 PM
Graham, McCain and Johnson just announced that they wanted to keep the process moving forward, and were asked by leadership to vote for “skinny repeal” in order to go to conference with the House. But Graham also called “skinny repeal” a “disaster” and a “half-assed” approach to health care. Graham said he wouldn’t vote for “skinny repeal” until he received more assurances from the Speaker of the House and his team that the resulting bill actually would go to conference with the House.
Yarrow
I guess this is something.
dmsilev
@Another Scott: McCain is talking about bipartisanship (and his speech).
The Moar You Know
@Yarrow: This will be entertaining. Five men who all think they’re the “last conscience of the Senate” elbowing each other off a podium to score that prime camera angle.
TenguPhule
@zzyzx: They have another backup plan after it. I will presume they have another one they haven’t announced yet after that one too.
Mandarama
@eclare: I’ll try the Memphis lines; thank you! I only wish I thought it would make a difference to either of our so-called elder statesmen.
dmsilev
McCain managed to use a large number of words to say nothing at all as far as I can see.
Johnson wants an assurance that whatever they pass will go to conference rather than just the House passing it.
Edit: “Obamacare sucks. The skinny bill sucks”
Major Major Major Major
@zzyzx: huh.
Iowa Old Lady
@zzyzx: That is a disaster
Yarrow
Are these Senators really going to trust the “assurances” they get that any bill they pass will go to conference with the House?
tobie
What in hell is so magical about the House/Senate conference? It’s all done in secret. Why can’t these fuckers admit that the best thing to do is make certain fixes to the ACA–funding the risk corridors, Medicaid expansion in all 50 states, negotiating drug prices, etc.?
MomSense
@Mandarama:
Text
to 50409 and you can send free faxes to your Senators. It’s so easy.
dmsilev
@Yarrow: They’ve somehow been trusting McConnell so far. I’m sure the Nigerian prince people are taking notes.
Yarrow
MisterForkbeard
@Yarrow: “Until the House tells me something they can completely back out on without consequence, I’m not voting for it.”
Alternately: “I would like to announce my opposition to a bill that I’m actually going to try to pass, so long as someone else tells me it won’t actually become law.”
tobie
@MomSense: Done! And it was easy.
TenguPhule
@tobie:
Because this isn’t about healthcare.
Its about sticking it to Obama and tax cuts.
Major Major Major Major
So a bunch of lying liars are saying that if a big lying liar tells them the bill will go to conference (during which time they will argue more about what is in the bill they’re voting on first) then they’ll go ahead and vote for it? And I’m supposed to believe any of this? That about the long and short of it?
jl
@Yarrow: Good question. I think that they should not. “Assurances” aren’t enough. I think that is true by any common sense standard. Legislators should vote ‘yes’ on good bills that they can stand behind on ‘no’ on bad ones.
And even more so by any common sense standard, after McConnell has been caught lying during this fiasco to both reactionary and moderate GOP Senators about what his public and private ‘assurances’ really mean.
I think that is a very important point to bring up when contacting the so-called moderate GOP Senators.
Edit: the whole issue of whether it is a good idea to depend on the assurances of the known liar McConnell can also be used to argue to moderates that the only responsible course is to oppose this insane,dishonest, and dangerously irresponsible legislative process.
gene108
@Yarrow:
Other than maybe 50 Republican Senators and V.P. Pence, there isn’t anyone else on the planet in favor of what they are doing.
Yarrow
Lindsey Graham: “The skinny bill doesn’t work for any state.”
They are all about going to conference Graham says he’s not going to vote if it won’t go to conference.
TenguPhule
@Yarrow:
It seems like they’re going to give cover to the holdouts to turn back into good little Republicans following orders.
dmsilev
@Major Major Major Major: You missed the part where the biggest liar of them all gets on the Twitterthing and lies about telling lies.
Also, more lies.
Yarrow
Now they’re insisting that the CBO score everything, all the amendments. It’s going to take time. WTF? I thought they were defunding the CBO?
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes. Yes, And Yes.
This seems to be all about giving cover to the holdouts.
TriassicSands
This just up at the WaPo:
Repeal may not be dead yet, Republican zombies are virtually eternal, but it is definitely getting the defibrillator every ten seconds. Charging…
dmsilev
Q: “Senator McCain, are you a hypocrite?”
Yarrow
McCain says he’s voting NO unless there’s a path to conference.
TenguPhule
@Yarrow:
House wants to defund the CBO.
Senate just wants to ignore their findings.
eclare
@Mandarama: I specifically asked why they wanted to kill their constituents. I also played up the “rural hospitals closing, nurses losing their jobs, tanking 1/6th of our economy” aspect. People dying in the street wouldn’t bother them in the least, but hopefully as bidnessmen screwing around with the economy might. A little.
Major Major Major Major
@dmsilev:
…Satan?
Nah, just kidding, he’s a much better guy than Trump.
TenguPhule
@TriassicSands:
I would be more optimistic if this didn’t seem to fall into the same pattern of “goes down the first time, then somehow gets through on the second attempt” that has marked this abortion of legislation.
MisterForkbeard
@Yarrow: A “path” for a conference? Did he actually use that word?
Now he’s saying he won’t vote for this thing unless it’s vaguely possible that it might go to conference. What a shitshow.
jl
@Yarrow:
Important to note in calls to moderate GOPers that the effects of the skinny mini Trojan Hearse bill are known, since we have historical experience from several states, including Washington, New York and New Jersey. It will mean large premium increases and big coverage losses, and unstable insurance markets almost immediately. If they pass it now, moderate OOPers will see big fall out before 2018 and 2020. That might get their attention if nothing else does.
What the skinny mini, as it has been reported so far, will do is pretty much established history at the state level.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: Satan has never lied.
randy khan
@Major Major Major Major:
I believe that’s the essence of it.
smh.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: Democrats will investigate it and Republicans will ignore it. Interesting. I hope all those women who voted for Trump are keeping tabs on his and his supporters’ sexism. This is who they are. Why reward them with your votes?
Ditto LGBTs who support and vote for Trump. See how easily he threw transgender service men/women under the bus? That’s going to keep on happening. You’re expendable.
Mandarama
@MomSense: I did! ? Thanks.
randy khan
The skinny repeal bill is just a total disaster for the insurance industry – guaranteed issue plus minimum standards plus no mandate means that people will get insurance only when they plan on using it. It becomes impossible to write policies.
SFAW
@zzyzx:
Thank FSM that the Sneaker of the House and his team are honorable men. So are they all, all honorable men,
Maybe ZEGS will emulate Brutus’s last action, before too much more time passes?
FlipYrWhig
@TenguPhule:
Isn’t that what you can already do with a “Wyden waiver”?
SFAW
@gene108:
And “Doctor” Jill Stein?
The Moar You Know
Just to be clear, “going to conference” from these fuckers means Ryan greenlights the Senate version of the bill and it goes straight to Trump, and will be signed Friday night.
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule:
You mean the fella with the nickname ‘the prince of lies’?
SFAW
@Yarrow:
And you KNOW he meant it: his brow was more furrowed than it’s been in recent memory.
TriassicSands
@TenguPhule:
As would I. Republican zombies are virtually eternal. There’s no bad idea that is ever bad enough, seemingly, for the GOP to give up on it entirely. However, all bad news (for Republicans) seems to be good news for us and while it might not be a reason to be fully optimistic, maybe it keeps hope alive.
TriassicSands
@TenguPhule:
It’s like the Republicans dug up Herbert West and reanimated him…in the form of Mitch McConnell.
Fair Economist
@Frankensteinbeck:
Dunno how they pass it without a CBO score. To do so is to nuke the filibuster. I’d take skinny repeal to end the filibuster, actually – imagine how different things would be if there had been no filibuster in 2009. For starters, we’d have cap’n’trade and card check, plus a lot more I’d have to look up.
Patricia Kayden
@dmsilev: No, I am a Maverick. So mavericky that I selected Sarah “Quittin'” Palin as my VP and now you all get to enjoy her pearls of wisdom from time to time.
SFAW
@Major Major Major Major:
If he were any good at it, he’d be the King. And the current King doesn’t like competition, so he’d immediately start tweeting about how “pathetic!” and what a “loser Crooked
HillarySatan is!”, were Satan to make a run at Lying Littledick.FlipYrWhig
@Major Major Major Major: Oh, I thought it was Prince of Lice.
Fair Economist
@TriassicSands:
The encouraging thing is the Senate did vote down all the actual proposals – straight repeal, the House plan, and the Senate “kill Medicaid” plan. They’ve voted against everything seriously proposed from the Republican side except Cassidy-Collins. That’s a good sign.
Yarrow
@The Moar You Know: They said they meant the amendments needed to scored by the CBO and worked through in conference. Maybe they were lying, but they did say that.
TriassicSands
Oops. The original headline was from the NY Times not the WaPo.
My mistake. It seems like the Post is usually first with this kind of breaking news. Not this time, I guess.
Major Major Major Major
@FlipYrWhig: I always figured Lucifer for a neat freak. Bearer of light, the morning star and all.
Another Scott
Jon Lovett reminds us:
(via Krugman’s twitterings)
Cheers,
Scott.
TriassicSands
@Fair Economist:
Sadly, there seems to be a strong feeling among many Republicans that they have to pass something no matter what it is or even how horrible it is. Apparently, the idiots think that passing something will show they can “govern.” I put that in quotes because there is no way they can govern. They want to rule — that is, force legislation through anyway they can regardless of whether it is good for the country or not, as long as it is consistent with their ideology, which is incoherent and very bad for the country.
I just watched a clip of The Mooch and it occurred to me that Donald Trump now has stiff competition for who is the biggest asshole in his administration. Trump and The Mooch in a head to head battle for assholery supremacy. Compelling. (Not.)
TriassicSands
The four senators who threatened to vote “No” are Graham, Cassidy, McCain, and Johnson. They’re demanding a guarantee of a conference. As if a conference with the idiots in the House could “fix” anything.
So, I doubt that threat will come to fruition.
MCA1
@TriassicSands: “Sadly, there seems to be a strong feeling among many Republicans that they have to pass something no matter what it is or even how horrible it is. Apparently, the idiots think that passing something will show they can “govern.””
Yes. I can’t tell what the best analogy for all this is, but it feels like: other than the hard right death eaters who actually believe that the ACA is the worst travesty to ever befall America, the rest of the Republicans in Congress spent eight years as the pledges at a frat party, getting progressively more drunk on Kool-Aid with grain alcohol handed them by the brothers (Koch, that is), and triple dog daring themselves into eating a real, actual shit sandwich ’cause it’d be fucking hilarious, and now that they got called on it, they’re just struggling mightily to make it the least disgusting fecal food they can while trying desperately to make sure they’re not the first one to take a bite, and also trying to figure out how to just break a little bit of the sandwich off and shove it into their pocket while no one’s looking before passing it along and hoping they don’t get caught. They’re now in the final “OK OK OK OK, here we go…wait, hold on, just a second” stages. They’re just praying campus police show up so they can get credit for “We were totally gonna do it” without having to actually do it.
To torture another analogy, we’re also finally learning what happens when the dog catches the car: he humps the tailpipe for awhile, then lies down in front of a tire and begs his master to put it in gear.
TriassicSands
@MCA1:
I’ve lost my appetite…maybe forever.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: By the Catholic and Protestant Churches. Hardly trustworthy or unbiased sources.
Uncle Cosmo
@Major Major Major Major: Just FTR (late to the thread as always) it’s an even worse argument because how the fuck do you primary an Independent???
henqiguai
@Uncle Cosmo(#297):
Well, in Massachusetts, at least, you declare for the Independent Party and continue from there. Something Ms. Shroedenger’s Cat may want to check with her town Clerk; her comment about her registering to vote seemed to imply she registered and declared for the Independent Party when she seems to have meant to register as (here in Massachusetts) an “unaffiliated” voter.